Burma CSW calls for international action

The United
Nations Security Council met on 30 August to discuss the humanitarian crisis in
Rakhine State, Burma. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling for
international action to tackle the crisis, including measures such as targeted
sanctions and the suspension of British training for the Burmese Army.

Matthew Rycroft,
the UK Ambassador to the UN, said that in the closed meeting, Security Council members
discussedthe
recommendations outlined in the final report of the Advisory Commission on
Rakhine, but no formal statement was adopted: "We all condemned the
violence. We all called on the parties to de-escalate."

An escalating
humanitarian crisisin Rakhine State has left thousands
displaced and hundreds dead, with reports of the destruction of thousands of
homes in attacks by the Burma Army. The military’s current offensive follows
reported attacks on 30 police stations by a small armed group known as the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Rakhine State on 25 August. This
latest crisis follows a severe
military offensiveagainst civilians in Rakhine State
in October 2016, sparked by the deaths of nine police officers in an attack on
two border guard posts on Burma’s border with Bangladesh on 9 October 2016. The
Burmese accused ARSA of acts of terrorism, but responded with widespread
attacks on Rohingya civilians. The subsequent military offensive has led to the
worst human rights and humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State since 2012.

Christian
Solidarity Worldwide’s Public Affairs Team Leader, Sini Maria Heikkila, said:
“While we welcome the Security Council’s discussion on the desperate situation
in Rakhine State, we are disappointed that no formal statement was adopted, and
no concrete plans were devised to address it. We condemn ARSA’s attacks, but
the Burmese military’s wholly disproportionate assault on Rohingya civilians is
a continuation of its persecution of the Rohingyas and may amount to further
crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing.”

“We call
directly upon the head of the Burmese military, Commander in Chief General Min
Aung Hlaing, to halt attacks against Rohingya civilians and to allow aid to
reach all in need, regardless of their religion or ethnicity. We also urge the
international community to consider targeted sanctions against Senior General
Min Aung Hlaing, to suspend current training programmes with the Burma Army and
to press the Government of Burma to engage with existing UN Human Rights
Council mechanisms and address reports of severe human rights violations
underway in northern Burma. It is surely time for the UN Security Council, the
UN Human Rights Council and other relevant bodies to take stronger collective
action by invoking the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ if the Burmese authorities
remain unable or unwilling to take action to end this crisis.”

On 3 February,
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published an extensive “flash
report”into human rights violations in Rakhine state, which
raised concerns that rights violations in Rakhine State are the result of a
“purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by
violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or
religious group from certain geographic areas.” The
reportstates that “an estimated 22,000 people remain
internally displaced as at 20 January, which means that nearly 90,000 people
are estimated to have suffered internal or cross-border displacement since 9
October 2016.”

In recent days
thousands more have been displaced. In a statement
on 29 August, The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad
Al Hussein, urged all sides to renounce the use of violence and called on State
authorities to ensure they operate in line with their obligations under
international human rights law: “Decades of persistent and systematic human
rights violations, including the very violent security responses to the attacks
since October 2016, have almost certainly contributed to the nurturing of
violent extremism, with everyone ultimately losing.”

His Holiness
Pope Francis, who will visit Burma from 27 to 30 November 2017 in the
first-ever papal visit to Burma, called for prayer for the Rohingya in a statement
on 27 August: "Sad news has arrived of the persecution of the
religious minority, our Rohingya brothers. I would like to express all my
closeness to them, and let us all ask the Lord to save them and to inspire men
and women of goodwill to help them, so that they may have their full rights.
Let us also pray for our Rohingya brothers.”

“Pope Francis’ statementsends a vital message about the values of human dignity, religious
freedom and inter-religious harmony for all. We hope His Holiness’ visit to the
country in November will be an opportunity to promote peace and constructive
dialogue, and to advocate for the rights of the Rohingya and other ethnic
nationalities in the country, such as the Kachin and Shan, who are facing
similar rights violations and crimes against humanity at the hands of the
Burmese army,” Sini Maria Heikkila added.

Notes to
Editors:

1. The
Responsibility to Protect refers to the obligation of States toward their
populations and toward all populations at risk of genocide and other mass
atrocity crimes. Following a document produced at the 2005 World Summit, a 2009
report by the UN Secretary-General outlined three pillars of the responsibility
to protect:

The State
carries the primary responsibility for protecting populations from genocide,
war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and their incitement;

The
international community has a responsibility to encourage and assist States in
fulfilling this responsibility;

The
international community has a responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic,
humanitarian and other means to protect populations from these crimes. If a
State is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the international
community must be prepared to take collective action to protect populations, in
accordance with the UN Charter.